In this New York Times Notable Book from one of today’s most acclaimed writers, two lives stretched between two cities converge in a chance meeting that will irrevocably change their lives. “Hadley is a supremely perceptive writer of formidable skill and intelligence, someone who goes well beyond surfaces.”—New York Times Book ReviewUnsettled by the recent death of his mother, Paul sets out in search of Pia, his daughter from his first marriage, who has disappeared into the labyrinth of London. Discovering her pregnant and living illegally in a run-down council flat with a pair of Polish siblings, Paul is entranced by Pia’s excitement at living on the edge. Abandoning his second wife and their children in Wales, he joins her to begin a new life in the heart of London.Cora, meanwhile, is running in the opposite direction, back to Cardiff, to the house she has inherited from her parents. She is escaping her marriage, and the constrictions and disappointments of her life in London. But there is a deeper reason why she cannot stay with her decent Civil Service husband; the aftershocks of which she hasn’t fully come to terms with herself.Connecting both stories is the London train, and a chance meeting that will have immediate and far-reaching consequences for both Paul and Cora.

在这本来自当今最受赞誉的作家之一的《纽约时报》名著中，两个在两个城市之间延伸的生命在一次偶然的会面中交汇，这将不可逆转地改变他们的生活。"哈德利是一位极富洞察力的作家，他有着令人敬畏的技巧和智慧，他的作品远远超越了表面。"--《纽约时报》书评保罗因母亲最近的去世而感到不安，他开始寻找他第一次婚姻的女儿皮娅，她消失在伦敦的迷宫中。保罗发现她怀孕了，并与一对波兰兄弟姐妹非法居住在一个破旧的委员会公寓里，他被皮娅在边缘生活的兴奋感所吸引。他抛弃了在威尔士的第二任妻子和他们的孩子，与她一起在伦敦市中心开始了新的生活。与此同时，科拉正朝着相反的方向跑，回到卡迪夫，回到她从父母那里继承的房子。她在逃避她的婚姻，以及她在伦敦生活的束缚和失望。但她不能和她体面的公务员丈夫呆在一起还有一个更深层次的原因；她还没有完全接受这个原因的余震。